KINGS LOSE TO OTTAWA SENATORS AND ERIC FURLATT 3-2

Who is Eric Furlatt? Apparently, he is super human…and a magician. He is able to see at real-time speed what Toronto and multiple video angles could not determine after over 10 minutes of review. You can’t call Eric Furlatt a retard. That wouldn’t be very nice. You could say he sucks, but that wouldn’t be very specific. You could say Eric Furlatt is an incompetent baboon. That would be closer but, Darwin’s theories aside, the primate reference wouldn’t add much substance to the discussion. That is why we chose the word magician. His incredible eye sight which is able to slow down the game to 1/8th of its speed and pause it at angles that don’t exist within any video replay technology ever invented actually clearly saw Ryan Smyth’s stick above the cross-bar at the time of contact with the puck with 3 seconds left in the game. It’s refreshing to know that all of the criticism of officiating over the past three seasons and what some call a downward spiral of the NHL’s credibility as a result of the veterans retiring and being replaced with inexperienced and/or unqualified officials doesn’t translate to Eric Furlatt. Unfortunately for Furlatt, the “inexperienced” tag line does not apply as he does have nearly 9 years of officiating experience. I suppose we will have to settle for dipshit after all.

Look, it’s not just the officiating. Furlatt’s idiotic call as well as the reversal of Simmonds’ goal earlier in the game (when the Senator Matt Carkner intentionally pulled the net off the mooring) did for all purposes decide the game but when all is said and done, the Kings blew it…”it” being the lead they had 2-1. How many leads have we given up in games? A lot. It may be five. I haven’t counted but whatever the number is may add a gray hair.

As for the game, two of the Senators’ goals exposed two of our defensemen. Alfredsson made Jack Johnson look like Drew Doughty against Jamie Benn as he stripped the puck, spun him around and passed the biscuit to Michalek who tied the game with less than a minute in the second. If ever there was a momentum changing goal (as late second period goals tend to be), this was it. Unfortunately, Jason Spezza made Matt Greene look almost as bad close to mid-way in the third as he drove past Greene and beat Quick from a sharp angle. Bad goal? Yes.

Finally, remember when I wrote that it will only be a matter of time before our mad scientist coach Terry Murray puts Simmonds on the first line? There you had it tonight. Murray put Brown with Richardson and Lewis and Simmonds with King and Kopitar. Expect this musical lines to continue until the Kings find a way to win, even though the line changes rarely, if ever, have any impact on the game result.

There is so much more I could write about this game but quite bluntly, the officiating has me seeing red right now…with that, I leave it to you to comment, question and vent, as you wish.